Apparatus and method for sanitizing stethoscope heads
An apparatus for sanitizing a stethoscope head. The apparatus includes a housing, a reservoir disposed within the housing for containing the sanitizing fluid, one or more applicator pads mounted on the housing, and a dispensing valve for dispensing the sanitizing fluid from the reservoir onto the applicator pad.
This application is continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/357,523 filed on May 9, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,138,500 which is a 35 U.S.C. § 371 United States National Phase Application of, and claims priority to, PCT International Application No. PCT/US2012/064442 filed Nov. 9, 2012, which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119 of United States Provisional Application Serial No. 61/557,619 filed on Nov. 9, 2011. The entire contents of both of the aforesaid applications are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.
BACKGROUNDHospital-acquired infections are an issue in today's healthcare system. Such infections can lengthen hospital stays and increase health care costs. Hospital-acquired infections have many causes, including the transmission pathogenic microorganisms by contaminated medical devices. For this reason, the American Medical Association has passed a resolution recommending that stethoscopes (and other hand-held medical instruments) be cleaned between uses. See American Medical Association House of Delegates. Proceedings of the 50th Interim Meeting. Chicago, Ill.: American Medical Association; Dec. 8-11, 1996:398. A need remains for a fast, easy, and cost-effective way to clean and disinfect stethoscope heads between patient uses.
SUMMARYAccordingly, by utilizing the various embodiments described herein, medical practitioners are able to quickly, easily, and cost-effectively sanitize stethoscope heads between patient encounters at the point of care.
In one aspect, an apparatus is provided for dispensing a sanitizing fluid onto a stethoscope head. The apparatus includes a housing and a reservoir disposed within the housing for containing the sanitizing fluid. One or more applicator pads are mounted on the housing for applying the sanitizing fluid to the stethoscope head. A dispensing valve for dispensing the sanitizing fluid from the reservoir onto the applicator pads is also provided.
In another aspect, a method for sanitizing a stethoscope head comprises dispensing a sanitizing fluid from a reservoir onto an applicator pad, applying the sanitizing fluid to the stethoscope head by placing the stethoscope head in contact with the applicator pad, and sanitizing the stethoscope head with the sanitizing fluid.
Further objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from consideration of the following descriptions and the appended claims when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.
This disclosure is directed to an apparatus and method for sanitizing a stethoscope head. Utilizing the principles disclosed herein, medical practitioners are able to quickly, easily, and cost-effectively sanitize stethoscope heads between patient uses at the point of care.
The housing 20 is illustrated in
The reservoir 40 is disposed within the housing 20 and is configured to contain the sanitizing fluid. In
In other embodiments, the reservoir 40 is a separate container inside the housing 20. For example, as shown in
The one or more applicator pads 50 are mounted on the housing 20 and are configured to apply the sanitizing fluid to the stethoscope head. In the apparatus 10 shown in
In some embodiments, the applicator pad 50 is constructed from a porous, absorbent material configured to absorb the sanitizing fluid. For example, the applicator pad may be constructed from a cloth material, a cellulose sponge material, a synthetic polymer sponge material, or any other suitably porous and absorbent material.
In some embodiments, the applicator pad 50 has a thickness sufficient to absorb an effective quantity of sanitizing fluid to sanitize a stethoscope head. The effective quantity of sanitizing fluid may differ depending on the particular sanitizing fluid used with a given apparatus 10.
In one embodiment, the applicator pad 50 is configured to facilitate the application of sanitizing fluid to the diaphragm D and/or the bell B of a stethoscope head S. Thus, the applicator pad 50 may have a substantially planar portion 52, shown in
As shown in
Referring again to
As shown in
In
In one exemplary embodiment, shown in
In another exemplary embodiment, shown in
Referring now to
In another embodiment, shown in
Referring now to
The sanitizing fluid contained in the reservoir 40 of the apparatus 10 may be any fluid known in the art to be suitable for disinfecting surfaces. For example, the sanitizing fluid may be an alcohol-based disinfectant, a benzalkonium chloride-based disinfectant, or any other fluid suitable for disinfecting surfaces. A benzalkonium chloride-based disinfectant, known as the surfactant, allantoin, and benzalkonium chloride (“SAB”) disinfectant has been described previously. See, e.g., David L. Dyer et al., Testing a New Alcohol-Free Hand Sanitizer to Combat Infection, 68 AORN J. 239 (1998), the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. In one embodiment, the sanitizing fluid is an alcohol-based disinfectant, such as an ethanol- or isopropanol-based disinfectant, or any other suitable alcohol-based disinfectant.
As indicated in box 104, and as illustrated in
As indicated in box 106, and as illustrated in
In some embodiments, as shown in
As indicated in box 108, after contacting the stethoscope S with the sanitizing fluid, the practitioner allows the sanitizing fluid to remain in contact with the diaphragm D or bell B for a time sufficient to sanitize the stethoscope head. Where the sanitizing fluid is an alcohol-based disinfectant, the sanitizing fluid sanitizes the stethoscope head as it evaporates. In one embodiment, in order to avoid contaminating the sanitized stethoscope head, the medical practitioner does not warm the stethoscope on their hand after sanitization.
While the present apparatus and method have been described in terms of certain particular embodiments, it will be understood that the apparatus and method are not limited to the disclosed embodiments, as those having skill in the art may make various modifications without departing from the scope of the following claims.
Claims
1. An apparatus comprising:
- a housing; and
- an applicator pad connected to the housing and adapted to be in selective fluid communication with a reservoir for retaining a sanitizing fluid, the applicator pad comprising a dome-shaped portion having a substantially hemi-spherical shape configured to extend into an interior region of a bell of a stethoscope head when the bell is placed over the dome-shaped portion;
- wherein the applicator pad further comprises a substantially planar portion configured to receive a diaphragm of the stethoscope head when a contact surface of the diaphragm is placed in contact with the substantially planar portion of the applicator pad;
- wherein the reservoir is formed by the housing and the housing is configured to dispense the sanitizing fluid onto either one of the substantially planar portion or the substantially dome-shaped portion of the applicator pad without dispensing the sanitizing fluid onto the other one of the substantially planar portion or the substantially dome-shaped portion.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the reservoir contains a sanitizing fluid and a portion of the sanitizing fluid dispenses from the reservoir onto the applicator pad when the stethoscope head is pressed against the applicator pad.
3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the sanitizing fluid dispenses out of the reservoir through one or more passages formed through a deflectable wall portion of the housing when the deflectable wall portion is deflected.
4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the applicator pad is formed from a porous, absorbent material configured to absorb the sanitizing fluid.
5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the porous, absorbent material of the applicator pad comprises at least one of a cloth material, a cellulose sponge material, or a synthetic polymer sponge material.
6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the dome-shaped portion and the substantially planar portion of the applicator pad are formed from a single piece of the porous-absorbent material.
7. An apparatus comprising:
- a housing having a portion configured to receive and hold a sanitizing fluid; and
- a first applicator pad disposed on the housing and formed from a porous, absorbent material configured to absorb the sanitizing fluid when the sanitizing fluid dispenses out of the housing and onto the first applicator pad, the first applicator pad having a substantially hemi-spherical surface configured to extend into an interior region of a bell of the stethoscope head when the bell is placed over the first applicator pad;
- a second applicator pad disposed on the housing and formed from a porous, absorbent material configured to absorb the sanitizing fluid when the sanitizing fluid dispenses out of the housing and onto the second applicator pad, the second applicator pad comprising a substantially planar surface configured to receive a diaphragm of the stethoscope head when a contact surface of the diaphragm is placed in contact with the second applicator pad.
8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the sanitizing fluid dispenses out of the housing and onto the first applicator pad when the stethoscope head applies pressure to the first applicator pad.
9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the first applicator pad applies the sanitizing fluid to the bell of the stethoscope head when the interior region of the bell is placed over and in contact with the substantially hemi-spherical surface of the first applicator pad.
10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the first applicator pad and the second applicator pad are disposed adjacently to one another on the housing.
11. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the first applicator pad and the second applicator pad are disposed on non-adjacent portions of the housing.
12. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the porous, absorbent material forming the second applicator pad is separate from the porous-absorbent material forming the first applicator pad.
13. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the sanitizing fluid dispenses out of the housing and onto the second applicator pad when the stethoscope head applies pressure to the second applicator pad.
14. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the second pad applies the sanitizing fluid to the diaphragm of the stethoscope head when the contact surface of the diaphragm is placed over and in contact with the substantially planar surface of the first applicator pad.
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- PCT International Search Report for PCT/US2012/064442, dated Jan. 25, 2013.
- Office Action for U.S. Appl. No. 14/357,523 dated Jan. 29, 2015.
Type: Grant
Filed: Aug 18, 2015
Date of Patent: Jun 12, 2018
Patent Publication Number: 20150352237
Inventors: Mark D. Kolins (Bloomfield Hills, MI), Barry Siegel (Birmingham, MI)
Primary Examiner: Sean E Conley
Application Number: 14/828,651
International Classification: A61L 2/18 (20060101); A61L 2/235 (20060101); A61B 7/02 (20060101); A61B 90/70 (20160101);